HENGE - Piper Butcher - Just Pearls - Clara Cloud - Junior VP - Casii Stephan

HENGE - Brains.

Attention Humans! Cosmic rave-prog outfit HENGE return with “Brains”, the first single from their fifth studio album ‘Humans’, arriving 29 January 2027. Where previous album ‘Journey to Voltus B’ took listeners to a distant planet, ‘Humans’ plants HENGE firmly on Earth, with its apex inhabitants as the subject. "Human beings are intriguing to us," says HENGE front creature Zpor. "Your capacity for abstract thought, your creativity, is nothing short of astonishing.”

Lead single “Brains” channels rave and electro, powered by trouser-flapping bass from Venusian bass maestro Brother Goo. Groove-centric and casually delivered, it features a guitar solo that sounds like it is ripping through the fabric of the universe. "The human brain is truly a thing of wonder, and I naturally felt compelled to write an ode to it" explains Zpor.

The single follows a huge year for the band, with clips of “DNA” and “Mushroom One” racking up over 20 million views across platforms. ‘Humans’ will be accompanied by a world tour of 80+ dates across 25 countries, including the band's first shows in North America and Asia. Find the band’s UK dates below. 

Extra-terrestrial joymongers HENGE have been delighting audiences on Planet Earth for over a decade, earning an Association of Independent Festivals 'Live Act of the Year' award and legions of fans along the way. They have four acclaimed albums and their own comic book series to their name. Their last album, Journey to Voltus B, sold out headline shows across the UK and Europe and earned support from BBC 6 Music's Stuart Maconie, Deb Grant and Craig Charles.

============================================================================

Piper Butcher - Directions (EP).

The last few years have seen the rise of Newcastle country artist, Piper Butcher. After being crowned the inaugural winner of the CMAA Young Achiever Award, she didn’t slow down - she increased her output and took her music to the people, continually refining her songs by road testing them in front of live audiences across the globe. As a result, her maturity and evolving artistry are evident on her brand-new EP, “Directions”, due for release yesterdy Friday 23rd October 2026 through Community Music.

“I am so proud of this collection of music”,says Butcher. “This year I’ve taken a new direction with songwriting, being upfront and writing exactly what I’m thinking and feeling, rather than being metaphorical with every song. It has encouraged me to find inspiration in more places and delve deeper into other people's music to learn from as well. All of these songs are me down to a tee.”

Produced by Andy Mak (The McClymonts/Brooke & Adam), the EP showcases five original songs including co-writes with Austin Mackay and Kingswood’s Alex Laska, that not only grew their friendship but allowed Butcher to explore the scary feelings that were difficult to describe in song. The balance of the tracks sit between crazy ideas that woke her up at 2am begging to be heard and confronting feelings that flowed out when written in full.

The title, “Directions”, came from Butcher’s love of all musical genres. “I’ve always created music with the idea of serving the song and I wasn’t trying to stick to a certain sound or brand. But it’s evident to me now - I’m a country artist, through and through. And this feels like the first EP I’ve released that is cohesive and packed to the brim with my musical identity.” “I hope you love this EP. I feel like there’s a story for everyone; songs for people travelling in any direction of their life!”

============================================================================

Just Pearls - Flutterby (Album).

Flutterby had a magical beginning at its book premiere in Berne’s Stiftsgarten and has received many rave reviews. Kate Pearl’s lovingly illustrated fairy tale for children and adults touches audiences and has led to invitations for interviews and guest appearances on Radio. But Kate Pearl is not only an author. A musician and teacher who grew up in Ohio and has lived in the region of Emmental, near Berne, since 2001, she has been writing and performing music for many years under the name Just Pearls. And in many ways, it is the music that lies at the heart of Flutterby. “Although the book came first in terms of its release, it is really an accompaniment to —and an extension of — the album,” she explains.

Music has been a constant thread throughout Kate Pearl’s artistic life. Her musical journey has included collaborations with Balts Nill and Ursula Hotz of the Rodeo Ranchers, who have themselves worked with artists such as Tammy Wynette, Brent Moyer and Hans Holzherr. American songwriting legend Tom Paxton has also personally supported Kate Pearl’s work and her translation of his song “The Crow That Wanted To Sing”, included on this album (“Dr Chräie”).

Singing and writing in English, French, Standard Germanand Bernese German, she moves freely between musical worlds. Her songs have been described as combining the directness of Tracy Chapman with the poetic sensibility of Patti Smith and the distinctive energy of Courtney Barnett. Her latest single, “Comes Love,” received more than 400 plays on cultural radio stations around the world this summer, including numerous Swiss independent stations.

Now comes Flutterby— an album that brings together Kate Pearl’s songwriting with the work of a number of accomplished Swiss musicians. Among them is drummer and percussionist Dave Jutzi, who contributed to the soundtrack of Pirates of the Caribbean and has worked with Joe Cocker and Nils Burri, as well as Tom Gisler, known for collaborations with Bo Katzman, Nubya, Zia Lisa & Gattopardo and Mario Capitanio, and for his earlier work with Polo Hofer.

============================================================================

Clara Cloud - As Above (Album).

BC singer-songwriter and “fairy songstress” Clara Cloud returned yesterday October 23 with As Above, her most ambitious project yet, a cinematic new album and companion novella that reimagines the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice from Eurydice’s perspective. Blending alternative, folk, pop, Celtic influences and dream-like textures, the album follows Eurydice from the world above into the Underworld, exploring love, loss, fate and the fragile possibility of hope. While Cloud’s debut album The Woods was rooted in reconnecting with the inner child and finding the light, As Above ventures into darker territory, asking whether there can be comfort in learning to live alongside the shadows rather than simply trying to escape them.

The album arrives alongside a novella of the same name, written by Cloud, which keeps readers at Eurydice’s side as she moves from nymph to wife to inhabitant of the Underworld. Together, the music and story challenge the familiar tragedy and imagine whether Eurydice might have more agency over her fate than mythology has traditionally allowed her. “Could there be a world in which Eurydice marches herself out of Hell and back into the arms of the one she loves?” Cloud asks. Produced by Sal Verma, Jenna Marie, Charlotte Duggan and Cloud herself, with mastering by Greg Mindorff and additional vocals from her real-life partner Tristan “TEEG.” Giroux, As Above creates a haunting, atmospheric world where mythology, nature and storytelling collide.

The project is already receiving recognition ahead of its release. Album track “Shadow Song” was selected through MusiCounts to become an educational arrangement for the 2027 CBC Music Class Challenge, with Cloud collaborating with composer Hope Salmonson on an arrangement that will be made available to educators across Canada in winter 2026/27. Originally from Kimberley and now based in BC’s Kootenays, Cloud has built her work around the belief that music and storytelling can create worlds of their own. With As Above, she takes that idea further than ever, inviting listeners not simply to hear Eurydice’s story, but to descend into the Underworld alongside her and consider whether even the oldest stories might still have another ending.

============================================================================

Junior VP - American Optimism.

Glasgow indie-rock trio Junior VP return with their new single ‘American Optimism’ yesterday October 23rd, the latest track to be taken from their forthcoming debut album ‘Do You Feel The Same?’, due in 2027. Following the release of July’s ‘Red Cardigan’, which picked up support from RTE, Total Rock and KUTX, American Optimism sees Junior VP lean further into the melodic, emotionally charged indie that has quickly become their calling card.

Since forming in 2025, Junior VP have quickly built momentum. The debut studio EP ‘Head Full of Sadness’ arrived in May 2026, earning national airplay from BBC Introducing and saw the band shortlisted for Kerrang Radio’s The Deal competition. The band’s name is taken from the distinctly American position of ‘Junior Vice President’, paying tribute to the golden era of American college rock, emo and indie that inspires their sound. Through pop hooks and expansive guitar sounds, Junior VP blends the emotional immediacy of the early 2000s with a modern melodic edge. 

“We can’t escape the music that influenced us growing up,” says vocalist Ross. “There’s a real 2000s nostalgia in our music that seems to connect with people who lived through that era and those discovering it for the first time.”

============================================================================

Casii Stephan - Happy.

Released this weekend we have the new single "Happy" by Minnesota born Tulsa Oklahoma based award-winning singer-songwriter Casii Stephan. Written late at night out of a string of existential questions, "Happy" features a catchy hook that asks what it actually means to be happy. The track is carried by Casii’s warm, soulful voice and a retro, sunlit production from Chad Copelin (SPORTS, BRONCHO, Ben Rector). "Happy" emerges as the first offering from Casii Stephan's debut album Let Her Have Her Flowers set for release spring 2027.  Written in the wake of her father's death, the album is an exploration of what it means to grieve those we've lost and love those who are still here. 

Casii Stephan is hard to pin down—to genre, that is. To Casii, genre has always felt more like a tool to tell a story or evoke an emotion than a category to fit into. Anytime someone has said she’s found her “niche,” no one has ever told her the same thing twice.

Born and raised in funky Minnesota and cultivated in rootsy Tulsa, Casii is carving her own space in music—just don’t ask her to label it. Best described as somewhere between pop, soul, and rock, she has also been embraced by the folk community for her love of storytelling. Casii writes her songs honestly, from the depths of her emotions, with themes including life and death, love and loss, protest, and pushing back on negative societal norms like sexism, ageism, and fascism. 

In 2026 she has received recognition for her songwriting from the International Acoustic Music Awards winning Best AAA/Alternative Song for “California Gold”,  finalist for Best Rock Song with the International Songwriting Competition, the coveted “New Folk Finalist” from Kerrville Folk Fest with two unreleased songs off her upcoming debut album, and most recently a finalist for Best Rock Song at the Unsigned Only Music Awards.  

She has toured regionally and internationally, including London’s inaugural SXSW, and has performed multiple official SXSW and Folk Alliance showcases, and just performed her first official showcase at AMERICANAFEST in Sept. She has been profiled by Billboard, NPR, SPIN, and American Songwriter. Her catalog is with TRO Essex Music Publishing, home to writers like Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, and bands like The Who and Black Sabbath. Her EP Relationship Status, produced by Ben Tanner (Alabama Shakes, St Paul and the Broken Bones), was released in September 2024 on Shamus Records to rave reviews.

============================================================================

Nothing But Thieves - Grace Elizabeth Harvey - Piper Butcher - So So Modern - Strawberry Alarm Clock - Freyja Elsy

Photo - Steve Gullick

Nothing But Thieves - Baby Kool (Evelyn).

Marking a decade of Nothing But Thieves last year, with four albums, billions of streams, thousands of worldwide live shows and a global dedicated fanbase, the Southend five-piece made their musical return recently with new single ‘Evolution’ and the title-track of their forthcoming 5th record ‘Stray Dogs’ released on 25th September via RCA/Sony Music. The band continue to showcase their versatility and ambition with new single ‘Baby Kool (Evelyn)’, which is out now. 
 
‘Baby Kool (Evelyn)’ sees the band channel shared influences of Nirvana, Sonic Youth and The Pixies into a 90s grunge and indie rock inspired song, which received its global first play at BBC Radio 1’s Hottest Record last night. The anthemic track is a progressive alt-rock song that fluctuates in both atmosphere and intensity, showcasing Conor Mason’s full vocal breadth and building to a memorable melodic chorus. Thematically referencing the community of music and fandom through the metaphors of loneliness, connection and euphoria, the song is accompanied by a surreal 90s inspired video by Maxim Kelly (Hot Chip, Shame) featuring a prominent ‘pink man’ character and Evelyn the (stray) dog. The band says,
 
“This one felt like we wandered back into Dom's garage, where the band started. It's got one foot in glam and the other in grunge. Those two worlds’ probably shouldn't get along, which is maybe why they did. We often find that's where the interesting stuff is.”

============================================================================

Photo - Igor Prato Luna

Grace Elizabeth Harvey - The Dream Of Common Language.

Liverpool folk singer-songwriter Grace Elizabeth Harvey announces a new EP Songs Of Devotion, out 16th October and shares lead single 'The Dream Of Common Language'. The new EP will mark Harvey's first body of work since her spring 2025 debut EP Other Faith. Inspired by discovering Adrienne Rich's poetry collection The Dream of a Common Language in a charity shop, new single 'The Dream Of Common Language' opens conversationally over fingerpicked acoustic guitar before blooming into a sprawling instrumental passage. 

Scattered with fragmented images of cigarette papers, hazel-coloured eyes and cold telephone lines, both the single and forthcoming EP were recorded live at producer Gus White's residential studio, The Barn, alongside double bassist Sam Crooks and drummer Lloyd Haines. Mixed and mastered to tape, birdsong drifts through open windows as Harvey's delicate - almost spoken-word delivery - sits at the centre of a performance shaped by both the sound of language and its meaning; Harvey's lyrics balancing unusual, ambiguous phrasing with strikingly precise imagery, allowing the cadence of words to become part of the music itself.

Harvey said: "It’s a song about giving up on love to pursue the search for deeper philosophical understanding, in the face of language and its failures. The dream of a common language is a dream to be seen, to be understood and to rely on words to communicate what we feel and desire. It appears to us when the blind faith we have in others, often the strongest and most delusional when in love, breaks down, revealing itself as just a dream, a fiction, a wish.

"The song mentions a recurring dream I have where I feel I am screaming but no sound is coming out, or it does and I can’t understand why I am so angry or upset in the dream. I am quite a stoic person, coping with life through fantasy and goodwill, so this is maybe the unconscious outlet for pent up disappointment and injustice."

============================================================================

Piper Butcher - Porcelain Pillars.

“Porcelain Pillars is a love story. One that I encourage you to sit down with, close your eyes and really immerse yourself in”. That is the perfect summary by Piper Butcher about “Porcelain Pillars”, her stunning third release for 2026.

“Porcelain Pillars” is a cinematic dreamscape of lyrical beauty mixed with equally gorgeous melodies and accompanying musicianship and production. Focusing on the beautiful story of Jenny and Jimmy - the two star characters of this narrative - it traces the tale of two people putting their love above everything else. It’s their journey through life, loss and every stop in between. “No relationship is ever perfect, but this song dares to dream of that ‘movie love’ everyone adores”, says Butcher.

Piper Butcher continues to build upon her impressive musical resume with this third single of 2026.  Just a week after the release of “Porcelain Pillars”, Butcher heads out on the road with Variety the Children’s Charity as MC and Ambassador for their Backyard Bash, supporting schools and small communities. Keep an ear out for her performing the new single as part of these events. She was also recently announced as a showcasing artist for BIGSOUND 2026 as well as joining Wade Forster’s national tour of Australia later this year. 

============================================================================

Photo - Si Moore

So So Modern - Peace Talks.

Light Years is So So Modern’s latest offering. A collection of songs written in the decade since their last release, the twenty-something-year-old post-punk band have for years defied convention for how a group should operate or sound. Today the band resembles less the four young, unknowing friends who started this journey in the mid-2000s but more an extended family, bound through intersecting lives and close-knit community.

The musical landscape has since overtaken them with speed and saturation, but SSM have stuck to the path of the slow and steady - because time beats everything. Whilst the band’s sound has garnered a reputation for complex, chaotic convergences of guitars, synthesisers and rhythm, the songs in Light Years are about clarity, restraint and simplicity - an acknowledgement and misremembering of the straightforward hardcore punk and pop that inspired them as teenagers.

Short, structured and delivered with earnest power, today’s lead single, ‘Peace Talks’ reflects on coming-of-age within fringe communities - the late 90’s / early 00’s Aotearoa hardcore, DIY & straight-edge scenes, goth flats & anarchist squats - friends are, after all, the family you choose. Light Years represents time, distance and the entanglement of life, although it is unclear if this is in relation to a distant past or the horizon of the future. The limited 12” vinyl release by Flying Nun Records and Holiday Records is accompanied by the illuminating artwork of Lily Paris West.

============================================================================

Strawberry Alarm Clock - Where's One? (Album).

The first full album of new music from psychedelic rock pioneers Strawberry Alarm Clock since 1969 is released today. The new album Where's One? returns the band to the pinnacle of the genre they helped to invent, with a lineup unmatched for its authenticity including five original members, and decades of performing and songwriting chemistry on display. Previewed in recent months by the hit indie singles “Monsters,” “Blow Your Mind” and “The Sky Isn't Falling,” Where's One hits record stores in a Deluxe Double LP edition and as a CD, as well as streaming on all digital platforms worldwide.

Unquestionably, the '60s spirit is here. You can hear it immediately in the immaculately sunny a capella harmonies of the opening track “Feel The Love,” as well as in the full record's sparkling instrumental arrangements featuring period-perfect touches of their signature swirling organ, sunshine pop flute, electric sitar, lacerating acid rock guitar and groovy percussion. But as the needle drifts into the second track, the captivatingly ominous “Monsters” (appropriately released as the album's first preview single last Halloween), it becomes obvious that Strawberry Alarm Clock are here not to relive former glories but to push the psych-rock form ever forward with new ideas, fresh sounds, and unexpected reinventions. 

It's a revelation driven home by the next track, a dramatic deconstruction of “Day Tripper” that lets listener know to expect the unexpected: in a world of power pop bands trying to sound like The Beatles, the Alarm Clock play The Beatles like Devo plays The Stones, here and on a delightfully skewed reading of “Within You Without You”. By the third track, “White Light” – a musically and emotionally raw journey that blends psychedelia and dream rock with intense, near-metal riffing and stunning harmonies – the restless creativity of SAC in 2026 is abundantly evident, aptly summed up in the opening lyrics: “Where am I going? What will I do when I get there?”

============================================================================

Freyja Elsy - Another Life.

Freyja Elsy’s new single ‘Another Life’ is released today Friday August 7th. Built around the idea of what might have been, ‘Another Life’ explores the imagined versions of ourselves that exist alongside the choices we have made. The track reflects the strange duality of looking back at paths not taken while knowing that the life we have built is the right one, capturing the distance between who we were, who we are, and who we might have become.

Musically, the track moves from intimate guitar, piano and double bass into a wider arrangement of evolving strings and electronic textures, with the production shifting between restraint and release. ‘Another Life’ is the third single from Freyja’s forthcoming EP to stop the world turning, continuing the project’s movement from memory and anxiety into reflection and change.

The track also marks the first time Freyja has incorporated Cymraeg (the Welsh language) into her songwriting, with a verse inspired by her ongoing study of the language and a subtle reference to Welsh folklore, reflecting the song’s themes of changing seasons, identity and transformation.


============================================================================

Kate Ellis - Piper Butcher - YOVA - This Coast Bias

Kate Ellis - Scars.

Scars is the new single from Americana singer-songwriter Kate Ellis, born in Louisiana, raised in New York and now based in London. The single is a dysfunctional love song about the fine line between love and hate in relationships. This quote from author Blakney Francis perfectly sums up that duality: “There are all different sorts of love.

It can even become hate… really, hate is just another kind of caring.” Scars is the fourth and final single from Kate’s much-anticipated sophomore album 'Spirals' due for release on 4th February 2022, on River Rose Records.

The songs on Spirals create a series of scenes, moments and moods, but where the previous single Wonderland constructed an emotional and ethereal space, Scars makes you feel like you've just walked into a rowdy bar where two lovers are arguing like cats and dogs, but eventually kiss and make up. “It’s a love song with attitude and I love the humour in it", Kate says. "Also, how even after the endless rinse and repeat cycles of stormy emotion, there's still love there in the end - summed up by the song’s closing line: "I guess this must be love, 'cos we can't get enough”.

The song was produced by John Reynolds who has recorded and produced some of the most iconic artists in the music world, including Sinead O'Connor, the Indigo Girls, Daniel Lanois, Brian Eno, Belinda Carlisle, The Cranberries, and Damian Dempsey.

==========================================================================

Piper Butcher - Long Road.

Newcastle singer-songwriter, Piper Butcher, has been kicking some huge goals in the last few months.

Not only did her latest EP, “September”, chart at #1 on the iTunes Alternative Chart and at #2 on iTunes All Genres Albums chart just behind Kanye West, but she’s been playing shows with artists including Diesel, Felicity Urquhart & Josh Cunningham and Corey Legge. Piper was also recently announced to open for You Am I and as part of the 2022 Dashville Skyline Cosmic Country Weekender line up in February.

This week also marks the release of the third single lifted from her #1 EP – “Long Road”. According to Piper, the song - co-written with fellow roots act, Cassie Marie - covers the long road of heartbreak.

“The lyrics provoke sorrow and frustration but proves that leaving unhealthy people behind is a difficult but prosperous journey”.

==========================================================================

YOVA - Haunted.

Reaching for a spiritual connection with their younger selves, “Haunted” imagines what words of reassurance and guidance about the ways of life YOVA would pass-on in light of what they know now.

“Listening to the voice within takes us on the right path in life” muses Jova Radevska. “The chorus lyrics tell of that life force, powerful voice as guidance to be followed: ‘There is something inside, wild & free it reaches out’”.

From its skeletal piano-based beginnings to the resplendent, lush string sections that blossom to life over the course of its five minutes, “Haunted” is very much a song for the winter months, but one that holds the promise of brighter times soon-to-come. 

Arriving with bespoke visuals directed by Maltese/British photographer, filmmaker and author Mark Arrigo, the evocative official video for “Haunted” was shot in one-take and captures Jova Radevska in traditional dress, lost amidst the breathtaking and barren landscapes of the Lake District (Eskdale) at the height of mid-winter.

==========================================================================

This Coast Bias - Best Kind Of Trouble.

“BKOT started out as a nonsense song I was singing in the shower. I loved the first melody of the chorus so much that I just decided to dry off and immediately start working on it. From the first mix to the final one, I’ve loved it. It’s the story of a toxic relationship that both people can’t stay away from, and I’m sure we can all relate on some level.”

This Coast Bias is the indie/bedroom pop project of Clay Milford; a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based out of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. After multiple stints in rock bands, Clay decided to start writing and recording music on his own, citing frustration with the hassle of, “gettin’ a group of people together.” He began releasing music as This Coast Bias in May of 2019, and has since released nineteen original songs, all of which contain a vast smorgasbord of poppy hooks, lush walls of synth, and lyrics with a penchant for calling out past girlfriends. 

“I like to call the kind of music I write breakup pop. I always seem to end up writing music about things that annoy me in relationships, but don’t most people do that?” Clay cites Prince, Tame Impala and ABBA as his influences for This Coast Bias, but says his influences in music don’t stop there. 

“I grew up on a hefty diet of disco and funk from my mom and rock from my dad. I might listen to Led Zeppelin for a week and then be sick of them and only wanna hear Donna Summer for a month straight. I don’t think you should have to pick between genres as a listener or a musician, and these days, the lines are more and more blurred by the day anyway.”

this coast bias · best kind of trouble

==========================================================================

Catbells - Piper Butcher - Lisa Richards

Catbells - It's Not Hard.

Dreamy melancholic shoegaze meets alt-pop singer/songwriter Catbells engages her listeners with soft hypnotic vocals, lush soundscapes, and moody melodies that capture her deep, heartfelt emotions in the most intimate of ways. Gifted with a voice like an angel, Catbells gently immerses her listeners into a world of sweet nostalgia and velvety sentiments.

The singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist was introduced to the piano at age five, and by the 7th grade she was playing the guitar and writing songs about her middle school heartbreaks. After performing in several bands throughout her early music career, Catbells recently decided to focus on her own solo project.

Catbells is a somewhat enigmatic, shy wallflower type, with her name itself being an alter-ego. Named after the popular hiking spot recited in the famous children's book The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle by Beatrix Potter, Catbells' cinematic music is influenced by the vast natural wild. Raised in New England, Catbells often revisits the times of her childhood in her music, where she reflects on fond memories of the seasons changing, swimming in the eastern lakes, canoeing down the river, and working on the family farm.

Her deeply personal and introspective single "Fade - Rainy Day Demo" is an intimate and open-hearted reflection of lost love. “The song really wrote itself and the music needed to match the feeling of how the words felt. There are few people who are lucky enough to escape the feeling of a completely broken heart, and feeling like the person you loved so much just moved on like it was nothing, leaving you left there with a hole where your heart once was” confides Catbells. This emotionally raw and poignant narrative and accompanying music video features innovative illustrations of a sad cat saying farewell in a starry evening background.  While on the single "Wilderness" Catbells’ soft-powered honeyed vocals float above stripped down melodies and dreamy lush acoustic soundscapes. The track was mixed by acclaimed producer Ali Chant (Aldous Harding, Perfume Genius, Soccer Mommy).

==========================================================================

Piper Butcher - September (E.P).

Australian singer-songwriter, Piper Butcher, follows on from the success of her smash hit singles with her shiny new EP, “September”. The debut offering is a five-track release, showcasing the talented young artist from the New South Wales steel city of Newcastle.

Leading the EP is “Haunting Your Thoughts” which has already generated close to 40,000 streams on Spotify. It’s a rocky anthem thriving on Piper’s passionate vocals and one that takes you through the story of when a trouble maker doesn’t clean up their own mess. “Long Road” is co-written with fellow roots act, Cassi Marie, and covers the long road of heartbreak. The lyrics provoke feelings of sorrow and frustration, but Piper ensures in song that leaving unhealthy people behind is a difficult but prosperous journey.

Hitting the middle of the EP is the current single, “Before The Thunder”. It has immediately struck a chord with fans and the industry alike, emanating from the storyline where someone tries to cross the line to get what they want. The song builds with emotion, entrancing you with whimsical guitars and strong melodies.

The very first song that Piper ever wrote is included in the form of “Not Yet”. It stems from pure feelings of staying in the moment which listeners correlate with on a personal level. It’s honest and calm, yet it has a depth in meaning owed to its simplicity. Closing out “September” is a steamy swarm of blues rock that immediately draws the listener in. “Soul Into Sand” sees Piper truly soaring - her voice driving the song with immense intensity and soul.

“September” is further proof that we are witnessing the launch of one of Australia’s most exciting new roots artists. It is testament not only to her talent, but also Piper Butcher’s hard work and passion for her music. Piper Butcher - “September” - is released Wed 1st September 2021.

Piper Butcher · september

==========================================================================

Lisa Richards - Dominoes.

Dominoes is the second single from the upcoming sixth album “I Got A Story” from Australian singer and songwriter Lisa Richards, the latest from the acclaimed singer and songwriter since she moved back to Australia from Austin, Texas. Last year Lisa returned to the USA to record in New York City to record with Tim Bright.

As Lisa explains: “Tim and I first worked together on my debut release, ‘Not Quite So Low’, then three albums later we did ‘Mad Mad Love’ and co-wrote half that album together.  We completed recording this new one on November 18th 2019 which seems like an eternity ago, given all that has transpired since then.  I lived in the USA for so long that it seemed logical to me to work with people I know and trust and have history with. So I combined tour dates in the USA with recording this new album in New York, which was, in retrospect, crazy. This recording was completed with partial support from ArtsACT for which I am very grateful.”

Lisa says that Dominoes is, "A song about being young and out of control. This song was written on piano, which is different for me as I don’t really play piano. Growing up in Townsville North QLD was wild. I don’t make a secret of the fact that I began drinking at 7 and that I was dosed on anti psychotic medication from when I was 4 or 5 years old. The sexual abuse started somewhere in there and continued until I hit puberty. Alcohol and drugs were my close friends and it’s no wonder I was all over the place!  I was super confused about men, women, sex and relationships. I remember having this desperate need to be loved and desired and the suicidal spiral that would come over me when I was rejected. Which happened a lot.  I hung out with a gang of equally confused people and we were like dominoes!

==========================================================================

Molly Hanmer & The Midnight Tokers - Piper Butcher - Robert Ellis Orrall

Photo - Dave Clancy

Molly Hanmer & The Midnight Tokers - Sick of Me.

"Sick of Me" is Molly Hanmer's first single in three years and the first offering off the band's sophomore album Get Loose, due out on September 2021. The song comes after the release of Molly's debut album Stuck in a Daydream, released in 2018 with warm recognition from the National press and radio.

Get Loose parts ways from the Americana-themed compositions of its predecessor and dives deeper into Molly's passion for rock, blues, and psychedelic melodies. Lyric-wise, this new record feels more personal and brings awareness to political and social subjects that had an impact in the band when writing and composing the songs. As the title implies, this album is less restrained or unrestrained, hence "Get loose".

The 10 songs included in Molly Hanmer's upcoming album are longing for freedom to shake off the confines of the pandemic as well as our own critic or fears/inhibitions, urging us to break free, physically and emotionally.

"Sick of Me" was chosen as the song to kick off this new album. Musically fun, dynamic and radio-friendly, it could be the soundtrack of any Route 66 road trip; lyric-wise, the song is an acknowledgment of the fact that ultimately we need other people, with the pandemic keeping us isolated from one another. The importance of connecting with another, and aims to be a reminder that “me, myself, and I” can’t be our sole focus.

"Sick of Me" was written in the height of lockdown, at a time when it was impossible not to be real. And what was real for us was this loneliness, this longing to connect with others, which felt both vulnerable and even a bit perverse. There was anger, too, which you can hear as the song kicks off with this relentless immediacy. And "Sick of Me" was also cathartic, a way we could express our feelings, without breaking the furniture. And if you hear a nod to Iggy and the Stooges or the Buzzcocks, well, you wouldn’t be wrong. In sum, "Sick of Me" is an expression of the angst and longing we felt during a profound and painful time in our shared history.

==========================================================================

Piper Butcher - Before The Thunder.

Off the back of her debut single that debuted at #3 on the iTunes Alternative Chart, Newcastle singer-songwriter, Piper Butcher, is back for more with her brand new track, “Before The Thunder”.

Piper is one of the hottest new names to hit the Australian Americana scene and “Before The Thunder” is sure to capitalise on the success of its predecessor.

Piper says, “the song emanates a story of when someone wants something they can’t have and tries to cross the line to make it happen”.

The song brings about different side of Piper showcasing strong melodies and bluesy guitar licks that would make even John Mayer proud. Her versatility shines through and cements a class act that can straddle genres with the best of them.

==========================================================================

Robert Ellis Orrall - Sunshine.

Today, Robert Ellis Orrall shares the summertime-ready single “Sunshine” from his forthcoming album 467 Surf and Gun Club, out August 27 via Infinity Cat imprint Fixation Records. Accompanied by a music video starring power-pop Infinity Cat band Nectar and released on the same day as the label’s 19th birthday, “Sunshine” is every bit as nostalgic as it is catchy-as-hell.

“This song's about making the sunshine, spreading the sunshine, and letting the sun shine on the people you love,” says Orrall. “I'm hoping good times are back in style and our days can get a little bit brighter, no matter what the weather is outside.” He continues, “I asked Nectar - a band I like a lot - to make a video because they share my hopelessly optimistic in-spite-of-reality wish that we will all find a little more sunshine in our lives."

Nectar adds, "We filmed the video on one of the hottest days of the summer, so we were truly fueled by sunshine. The upbeat, good vibes of the song really set the mood and we had a blast!"

Owner of Infinity Cat Records and father to JEFF the Brotherhood’s Jake and Jamin Orrall, Robert Ellis Orrall is a Nashville legend. At the helm of the beloved indie label for almost two decades, he guided Nashville's punk-rock underground and launched the careers of bands like JEFF, Diarrhea Planet, Be Your Own Pet and Daddy Issues out of the now-demolished house at 467 Humphrey Street. But Infinity Cat is not his first success story. By the time he launched the label in 2002, the Massachusetts-native had already enjoyed a milestone-filled career as a major-label artist and behind-the-scenes songwriter, racking up Top 40 hits from the ‘80s through the 2000s and co-producing Taylor Swift's multi-platinum debut album.

==========================================================================